Meet Mark

Let me introduce myself. My name is Mark Sisson. I’m 63 years young. I live and work in Malibu, California. In a past life I was a professional marathoner and triathlete. Now my life goal is to help 100 million people get healthy. I started this blog in 2006 to empower people to take full responsibility for their own health and enjoyment of life by investigating, discussing, and critically rethinking everything we’ve assumed to be true about health and wellness...

Tag: health challenges

By Mark Sisson | January 03, 2018

Every New Year, the cynics are quick to tell you how arbitrary all the motivational messages, resolutions, and new beginnings are. It’s just another day, they grumble. And, sure, they have a point.

You could start that new diet, join that new CrossFit box that just opened down the street, and finally pursue the dream job you’ve always wanted on March 7th, February 15th, or August 3rd. It doesn’t have to be January 1st. Any day will do. The New Year is somewhat arbitrary.

But we’re social animals who thrive in the presence of others. We feed off the energy around us to fuel our own initiative. On some level we’re always looking to what the group is doing for motivation, if not direction. The New Year presents a unique opportunity that way for all of us. Why would we not take advantage of the tailwind?

By Guest | October 26, 2017

Today’s guest post is offered up by one of our own, Erin Power. She’s our awesome Student and Graduate Support Lead for the Primal Health Coach Program as well as an amazingly successful health coach in her own right. I love her message of taking the reins of your life today—all the better to enjoy the holidays and meet the coming New Year with unprecedented health and possibility.

Right around this time every year my inbox explodes. People are already dreading their impending, inevitable holiday weight gain and are wondering if they can somehow get ahead of the curve—make a preemptive strike, if you will. And that’s how it happens…one of the busiest times for my health coaching business, believe it or not, is the weeks leading up to and including the holidays.

By Mark Sisson | June 08, 2017

I’ll be serving up a traditional post soon, but I thought I’d check in and see how everybody is doing. I know we have a LOT of folks participating in the 21-Day Challenge led by my excellent staff. It’s been exciting to watch from the sidelines this week—to see them share their best tips and connect with our audiences.

If you aren’t joining the crew on Vimify (or if you are!), you can check out their Instagram Story videos and photos from the Mark’s Daily Apple, Primal Blueprint, and PRIMAL KITCHEN® Instagram accounts. (Just click on the circle logos when you pull up the app to see the latest additions.) The staff and videos are all different, so you’ll get the most by following all three channels. Definitely worth popping in and seeing what they’re up to!

By Mark Sisson | June 05, 2017

Before I delve into Dear Mark questions today, I want to put out the reminder that the June 21-Day Staff Challenge begins TODAY! The community board on Vimify is already hopping this morning as folks share their goals in the Challenge and what they’re doing today toward those intentions.

As I mentioned in last week’s Summer Reset post, this Challenge is all about getting a foothold on the summer you want. It’s about living the good life at its finest and healthiest.

By Mark Sisson | March 30, 2017

For all the focus on hearts and arteries, brain tissue and muscle mass, we tend to neglect one critical part of the body with dramatic influence over how we fare in later decades. It’s little surprise really. Feet don’t exactly garner much attention, let alone media time. Yet, the stakes are big.

For example, research shows that foot conditions like hallux vagus (HV, a common forefoot deformity in older people commonly referred to as “bunions”) was directly associated with marked decreases in quality of life. Foot pain, reduced foot function, lowered social capacity, and even degraded general health. That sort of thing.

But that’s just one foot condition, right? Yes…and no. The picture of averages looks rather bleak.

By Mark Sisson | March 23, 2017

Autoimmune diseases really throw the body for a loop. You’re attacking your own tissues. Your inflammation is sky high. What’s usually good for you—like boosting the immune system—can make it worse. You’ll often restrict eating certain foods that, on paper, appear healthy and nutrient-dense. You take nothing for granted, measure and consider everything before eating or doing it. Sometimes it feels like almost everything has the potential to be a trigger.

Is it true for exercise, too? Must people with autoimmune diseases also change how they train?

By Mark Sisson | March 16, 2017

As a Primal lifer, I recognize that purity has a certain allure, just as I know it has its decided limitations. I frequently find myself wondering, “Would my paleolithic forebears have done/said/eaten that?” and choosing my course of action based on this line of educated assumption. It’s the WWGD lens on modern living. In a Primal-perfect world, that would be sufficient to ensure continued health and happiness. But things don’t always work out as planned…

Let’s say you hurt your back in an unfortunate turn of events. Primal dictates can certainly help with healing you over the long term, but if you want to get out of bed in the morning you’re likely stuck with the doc’s prescriptions. Similar situation if you’ve suffered physical damage to your eyesight, hearing, brain, or any number of your less robust anatomical sectors. Sometimes to get life done, you’ve just got to suck it up and take your meds.

It’s possible, however, that this may soon change. In my recent post on the vagus nerve, I touched upon an emerging curiosity in the medical world: electroceuticals. While still in comparative infancy, electroceuticals may end up revolutionizing a health care model currently dominated by the drug industry.

By Mark Sisson | March 02, 2017

There’s a saying that people who snore always fall asleep first. My days of overnight sports chaperoning and group camping trips have frequently confirmed that notion. Most people would say that snoring is less a problem for the snorer than anyone lying awake in the vicinity, and on those specific nights in memory I probably thought as much. But the health researcher in me knows there’s more to the story.

We know sleep apnea is a big deal. No one wants that. But regular, run-of-the-mill snoring? Is it really an issue? Everyone has someone in their family who does it. It’s often a running joke, in fact. Some estimates suggest more than half of us snore (although that might be an exaggeration, given that the estimated range is so extensive). How concerned should we really be? And what is there to do about it anyway?

By Mark Sisson | February 22, 2017

Intermittent fasting, schmittermittent schmasting. The hot new trend is the extended fast—eating nothing and drinking only non-caloric beverages for no less than three days and often as many as 30-40 days. A mere compressed eating window this isn’t.

If fasting for more than three days sounds riskier than just skipping breakfast, you’re right. Long fasts can get you into trouble. They’re a big commitment. You shouldn’t just stumble into one because it sounds interesting or some guy on your Twitter feed wrote about it.